Mind Games
by aquickdisguise
Summary: Donny is working on a new device when the machine strikes back! Basically written to allow me to gain a better understanding of the characters. See Authors note inside. Rated 'cause it gets a bit confuzzling.
1. Donny's Device

**Author's note:**

Hey all,

Again… this piece is music-inspired, and parts are meant to have a soundtrack. Two songs- 'Celtic Dream' by the same guy as last time (I'm listening to his CD) and 'Sleep' by Dandy Warhols are Donny's 'dream world'. Apologies to anyone I annoy intensely with my music-rambling… and to those who are slightly offended by my odd taste in music.

As always, any good song suggestions are welcomed, as music is a huge inspiration for me (along with sleep and my guitar)

This isn't written to be a great story so much as me trying to find a deeper understanding of the chars through a blatantly obvious plot. (Apologies for any poor plot work- I came up with this at five am this morning while sitting in Brisbane Airport waiting for my mum to come back from England) (Also, Donnie's device wouldn't actually work in real life because not everyone's brains work in the same neuro-paths (or whatever) - I AM AWARE OF THIS, so please _imagine_, for the sake of the story, that it is possible. Thank-ee.)

And my cat, Tim, seems to want to give you all a message, 'cause as soon I delete it, he walks over my keyboard again. So here it is: 3weeeeee23w.

Thank you, Tim.

**Disclaimer**: Absolutely none of the TMNT chars, settings (Well, New York, New York is property of itself), personalities etc are mine- they are property of Mirage Studios. (yup, that's what it said on the post-it note)

----

Raphael flicked through the channels and sighed. Nothing but rubbish. What happened to the good ol' toons they used to show? Now it was all on cable and face it, who has cable in the sewers?

He heaved himself off the couch and wandered over to the kitchen. He opened the fridge, then changed his mind and closed it again, turning his back on the appliance. He was about to take a step forward when he swivelled back round and pulled on the handle of the door. He paused, realising for the second time he wasn't actually hungry and stood up, slamming the fridge shut.

"Gah!" He muttered, irritated. "Nothing to do in this place!"

He peeped his head into Splinter's room and found him in a heated discussion with Leonardo. The red-banded turtle sighed and turned to go upstairs. Mikey had taken his board into the sewers for a ride, and Don was hidden away in his lab, working on the 'breakthrough of the century'. According to the technical genius, the power he was using to create whatever it was he was creating, was highly unstable, so he had forbidden anyone inside his lab.

Of course, the turtle brothers had immediately taken this as an invitation to snoop around the lab as much as possible, which was why Raph jumped the stairs two at a time and opened the door to his brother's lab.

"Stop. Turn around. Walk out. Right now."

"Nice." Raph said with a smirk. "Great way to welcome your bro."

Don still hadn't looked up from his work. He was wearing a mask and safety goggles and seemed intensely focused on the tiny piece of metal he was holding up between tweezers. "It is when I'm mixing dangerous chemicals." He looked up, keeping his back to his brother and reached for a glass containing clear liquid. "You wouldn't want me to…" He turned in his swivel chair and threw the liquid over Raph. "Spill it on you, would you..?"

Raph shook himself. "Agk! Gettitoff! Gettitoffme! For PETE'S SAKE, Donnie, HELP ME!" He suddenly paused, realising he'd been duped. He looked at Donnie, who gave him an endearing grin, and sighed. "It's water, isn't it?"

"Salt water, yes." Donnie replied, still grinning mischievously. "What do you want, Raph? I'm trying to work on this." He moved aside to reveal what looked like a pair of binoculars that strapped onto a persons head.

"Uh, Donnie. They've had binos around for a while now. Adding a strap isn't exactly… original to say the least." Raph raised an eyebrow.

"Not like these. These babies can see into your mind." Don said, picking up the tweezers and fitting the metal into the back of the goggles. "Yipes!" He drew his hand away and dropped the tweezers as the device zapped him.

"You ok?" Raph said, and before waiting for an answer, "Those things could be dangerous, mate. Say Bishop gets his hands on one- we'd be deader than… a dead person."

Raph was not well known for his creativity.

"No stress, they're fit with retainer scans so they can't be used by the wrong person. Plus, to actually see into someone's mind, you have to be relatively near them." Donnie pointed to a tiny antenna. "It's so sensitive it can pick up the vibrations in your brain as certain neural paths are stimulated, then, using advanced nanotechnology, it repeats the vibrations, causing the listener's brain to stimulate similar paths- thought-reading, to some extent. The only fault is it sometimes causes the listener to mimic the... uh… listen-ee's movements… and emotions… and any brain functions... But that's what I'm working on now. Cool, huh?"

"How near?" Raph asked, ignoring Donnie's complex explanation.

"I'd say around a metre or two. Brainwaves aren't exactly huge vibrations, Raph."

The larger turtle nodded. "Can I try it out?" He asked.

"Heck, no! I've gotta finish putting the-"

"Never mind." Raph said, pulling up a stool and halting Donnie's speech. He watched intently as Donnie went back to work.

Slowly, Raph found himself becoming Don's assistant, handing him tools when he asked for them and listening without any concentration as the genius babbled on to himself. Finally on the end of his tether, Raph took a glance around the desk. He couldn't help but see the second glass of clear liquid sitting so easily within reach. He restrained himself for a second, and then grabbed the container.

"Hey, Donnie? What does this do?" Raph waited until his brother looked up and then splashed the liquid over him and his machine.

"Arh-! Acid! Raph, get the emergency shower going! Quick, dude!"

Raph spurted an obscenity as his brother clutched his hand and shot off to the shower and turned on the tap. He rushed to his brother's side to find him shaking, not with pain, but with laughter.

"Raph you are SO gullible!" Donatello laughed.

"You little…" Raph growled, raising a fist.

Donnie took one look at his enraged brother and shot off like a rocket, his project forgotten. Raph took off after him, yelling a variety of choice words.

Back in the lab, Donnie's device crackled suddenly as the salt water soaked into the wires. A tiny vial at the centre of the machine smashed, sending purple liquid over the wires. On contact with the oxygen in the air, it began to turn colourless, dripping onto the work bench. There was a short fizzle, and the device short-circuited.

----

First question- is short-circuited a work 'cause it looks really weird. I think you get what I mean though…Okay, yes that was a REALLY short chapter, but more is coming! (no soundtrack to that unfortunately- when I first came up with this and wrote the note at the top, it was more a 'big picture' rather than separate chapters…so you'll have to bear with me while I get into the swing of writing in sections) I will start writing a 'Music Spiel' section with the author's note to announce a song if it's meant to be used in one of the chaps. That way you can choose to ignore my ramblings if you prefer.

Any problems? Questions? Comments? Death-threats? Review! I am NOT the kind of person who will get angry if you criticize, or point out that I am wrong about something and should be beheaded for my mistake, so feel free to say whatever you like (About the story though. Frankly I couldn't care less if the grass is purple where you live… well actually that would be pretty damn cool. Ok, I ENCOURAGE you to tell me if the grass is purple where you live… you get the idea.)

Okay then… Chapter 2 here it comes!


	2. Leo's First Battle

**Author's Note:**

Hey there guys… just a recap of the last paragraph:

_Back in the lab, Donnie's device crackled suddenly as the salt water soaked into the wires. A tiny vial at the centre of the machine smashed, sending purple liquid over the wires. On contact with the oxygen in the air, it began to turn colourless, dripping onto the work bench. There was a short fizzle, and the device short-circuited._

Anybody interested finding out what it'll do to Donny? (if the answer's no, go find another fic is all I'm saying)

Also, this is several hours later (its now evening/night, just in case your wondering why they're all off to bed )

Music Spiel

Well, not strictly chapter-related (apart from the fact that I'm listening to 'em as I write), but I found a band called Blind Melon t'other day- they sing… well, if you've heard a feel-good acoustic song that you can't remember the name of, or didn't know the name of in the first place… chances are they sung it at some point. If you're in the UK, you may remember a BBC radio ad a few years ago claiming that the radio station had 'music for everyone'- that song is 'No Rain'. If you're an Aussie, the TV commercial for Three Mobile features their song "Three is the magic number". (no guarantees on that btw, it just happen to work out that I've heard most of their songs at one point and listened to 'em going… Hey, I KNOW this!!)

Oh yeah, and to recap from the last Spiel… Donny's "dreamland" is soundtracked by Sleep (Dandy Warhols) and when it changes… so does the music! The music there should be an individual choice- if you listen to music while you read, try find something that echoes Donny emotions or helps you to understand his position but it's ultimately your decision (as it always is. I mean I'm not there shoving headphones in your ears while you read…)… and the idea is that you don't necessarily build a picture of the emotion-driven world… you just understand the concept. You'll get what I mean when you read it

Random Spiel

This has absolutely nothing to do with the next chapter- I'm just letting you all know that for the first time in aaaages, there's a proper storm in Bris! We're on level 5 water restrictions, so this hugely massive awesome storm was exactly what we needed! Very excited and marvelling at the beauty of bright blue lightning. Yesss!!

**Disclaimer:** TMNT-ness is Mirage studios, so nada's mine. 'Cept the story (w00t!).

----

Raph held Donny still while Mikey chatted animatedly in front of the purple-banded turtle. A well told joke put the technical turtle in high spirits. Behind him, Leo nodded and Raph tightened his grip on Donny's chest.

_POP!_

Leo winced as Donny's dislocated shoulder slid back into place.

Raph looked at Donny guiltily. "I didn't mean to hit you that hard, y'know?" He slapped his brother on his back and pulled him to his feet. "Can you move it ok?" He asked, concern evident in his face. Raph had his difficult moments, but he cared for his brothers above all else.

Donny rolled his shoulder experimentally and nodded. "Yeah, it's good…" He suddenly grabbed Raph in a headlock and ruffled his head with his fist. "Ah, the sweet revenge of nuggies!" He laughed.

Mikey punched his brother in the arm. "Good as new." He grinned, before squinting and slapping his forehead. "Did I just hit the wrong arm?" He asked, looking at Don.

Leo shook his head. "Nah, mate. C'mon, you guys should be getting some sleep." The eldest brother started to shepherd his family towards their bedrooms. Mikey bounded off without question, Raph yawned widely and made for his hammock, but Donny headed straight for his lab.

"And where d'you think you're going?" Leo caught his brother wrist- on his uninjured arm- and looked at him sternly. "Get some sleep. You can work on whatever it is in the morning."

"But I haven't finished today's-" Donny looked at Leo's exhausted face and realised that the last thing his brother wanted was a fight. "Fine." He sighed. Leo was right, work could wait until morning- he _was _pretty tired and… "What was that?" He snapped his head towards the lab.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Nothing, Donny. Nothing's happ-" He was cut off by Don's upheld hand.

"Listen…" Donny trailed off, straining to hear. There was a faint crackle of electricity followed by a deep silence. Before Leo could nod in agreement, Don was walking through the doors to the lab. He walked over to pick his device up, Leo appearing at the door.

"Donny, leave it. Do it tomorrow…" Leo tried to convince his brother to leave his lab, but the intelligent turtle ignored him, picking up the device and messing with one of the wires.

"Don't worry, I-" Donny was cut off by a vicious _ZAP!_ from the machine. He jerked violently and crumpled in a heap.

Leo darted forwards and knelt down to check his brother's vitals. "Raph! Raph, Mikey, quick! Donny's down! Splinter! HELP, someone!"

----

Donny opened his eyes. A white expanse surrounded him. He pulled himself into an upright position, and looked around. He had the feeling his stomach was somewhere above him, as if he was free falling, but the pure light surrounding him prevented him from perceiving any movement. He blinked, suppressing the urge to throw up and thought deeply.

…_Electrocuted? Is that what happened? I'm dead? But heaven should be more occupied, and hell should be darker. Where is this place? Perhaps I'm suffering some sort of hallucination… Was I drugged? Did I hit my head on the floor too hard?_

He didn't have time for much more speculation, as the light surrounding him flickered and died, leaving him in a darkness not unlike night in New York City. His stomach caught up with him and he felt solid ground beneath his feet. Slowly, pinpricks of light appeared above him, and the glow of hundreds of apartment buildings came into view. There was a shuffle and he heard Mikey's voice distinctly,

"Hey, Leo! Where we goin'?"

And, to Donny's disbelief, he answered, in Leo's voice, "Just follow me, Mikey. I found an awesome training spot just-" And he was hit roughly in the face with a Bo Staff. He turned, drawing Leo's katanas, and saw a foot ninja leap backwards out of his reach. Donny heard a cry in his own voice, and he kept turning, and saw a younger Donny in the grips of another foot ninja.

With a stab of realisation in his gut, Donny understood. He was in a _memory_. Leo's memory- of their first battle. Donny could still remember it himself. Leo had been leading them to a new training spot when the foot ninjas attacked- not that the young turtles knew of the foot clan back then… that fateful night was yet to come. His thoughts faded as he focused on the situation. Leo's mind had somehow fused with his own- he experienced the same adrenaline rush, and the same wave of calm that enveloped their leader, and allowed him to make the decisions he always made, and Donny let his consciousness take the back seat, and he began to live the memory through Leo.

Raph slashed the wrists of the ninja restraining Donny and turned expertly to plunge his other sai into the ninja who had been hoping to sneak behind him. He snarled and lunged forwards into the fray, sais flashing dangerously. An enemy katana flew towards him and he threw a sai upwards to deflect the blade as he skidded under the blow and tripped his attacker. The sharp blade sliced Raph's finger as he disengaged. He gave a grim smile before finished off the grounded ninja. He stopped for a moment to saviour the small victory and was hit roughly in the back of the head with a Bo similar to Donny's. He focused his eyes just enough to see another ninja dart in front of him with a weapon drawn and aiming for his stomach. Instinctively, he dropped his arm to shield his plastron and took the blow in his bicep.

"You little bugger, that hurt!" Raph yelled, throwing his sai expertly with his good arm. He ran forwards and pulled it from the fallen ninja's head just in time to block another attack.

Donny drew his staff and brought the butt of it crashing down on the head of a shadowy figure and let the momentum of his rush carry him forwards to attack another two ninjas. He took a defensive stance, growling angrily. In truth, the turtles had just turned the human equivalent of eleven, so Donny's feeble "G_rrr"_ didn't do much to instil fear into the ninjas. What put the fear in the ninjas was the skill with which he handled his weapon. Not bad for an eleven-year old.

Mikey blinked and instinctively thwacked anything that came remotely close to him with his nunchakus. He battled his way to Leo's side and stood back to back as the two brothers protected each other from harm. Leo's twin katanas shimmered in the moonlight, their deadly path halted briefly by a black-clad ninja who leapt forwards unexpectedly. Leo called to Mikey and the two turtles dived in separate directions, leaving the ninjas they were facing to collide painfully.

Despite their best efforts, the turtle brothers were slowly pushed backwards towards the centre of the rooftop and they met, bumping shell-to-shell in a warped circle. Realising they now had each other's backs covered, the redoubled their efforts, pushing outwards and forcing the unending ninja team back. Which was a mistake. The empty space between the turtles grew, and one intelligent ninja leapt high and somersaulted into the centre of the circle, drawing his katana. He landed facing Donatello and slashed the unfortunate mutant's leg. Donny's yowl of pain attracted the attention of his brothers, and they turned in unison. Raph acted fastest; his sai cut through the clothing of the ninja and the black material was stained red. His attack was returned in the form of a crushing blow from a second ninja. He fell to his knees and Leo immediately took a defensive stance over his brother, protecting him from harm.

"Whoa! Guys!" Mikey found himself suspended between two ninjas and being swiftly dragged away.

Donny gritted his teeth and shut his mind off from the pain in his leg. He took a short run, battering approaching ninjas with his Bo and flipped just high enough to clear Mikey, but low enough to thwack his brothers captors soundly with his staff and landed awkwardly on one leg. He stepped forwards to gain balance and fell to the ground.

"Leo, I'm down!" he cried, as Mikey heaved his brother up onto his good leg.

Leo's head whipped round, and his bandana tails flapped in his face. He cleared them with a flick of his neck and took in the scene: Donny was using his Bo as a support and reaching for his throwing stars. Mikey looked like he had his hands full keeping Donny safe and for a second, Leo's glance flicked to Raph, who had managed to steady himself and pull out his sais enough to hold his ground, but he was exhausted and his injured left arm was still useless. The young leader could tell they weren't going to hold out much longer.

He panicked for a second, realising they'd have to pull out. He took a deep breath, and weighed up their odds. Maybe they could… oh who was he kidding? They had to get out of here. He couldn't risk his brothers' safety for his honour.

Closing his eyes, and wishing he didn't have to say the words, Leo bellowed, "Retreat, boys! We can't hold 'em off much longer! Get outta here!"

Donny's conscience cringed inside Leo's mind. The only time their leader had ordered them to back down and flee. Not hide and recuperate then launch a second attack- no tactics in this one. Just wussie out, head home and nurse wounds in safety. Donny remembered feeling slightly angry towards Leo that battle. Now, being trapped in his leaders head, his misgivings vanished. Leo was more than ashamed, and Donny was sharing the feelings of guilt, shame and worry. Donny didn't want to think, or to let Leo think about what Splinter would say when they got home.

The memory-turtle brothers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Donny. They paused for a second- the whole scene seemed to freeze as Leo's words died on the wind.

"Yeah, that's right. You heard me, scram!" Leo repeated.

Mikey reacted first. In an act of unquestionable trust, his head shot up, and his body immediately followed as he leapt from the rooftop to avoid the katana of an enemy ninja, landing on a balcony several floors below with a loud _THUD_. He looked back up to see Donny being thrown after him. He positioned himself to catch his brother's fall, but Donny was falling too fast, and the two ended up in a tangled mess of arms and legs on the stone balcony. Mikey grinned sheepishly and motioned to the building facing them.

"Let's get onto that roof. We can help Raph and Leo from there!" Donny nodded and followed the happy-go-lucky character down the wall, across the road and up onto the building opposite.

--

Leo slashed another shadow-black leg and another ninja fell to the floor, defenceless. He battled his way over to Raph who either hadn't heard his call for retreat or was too proud to heed it. "Raph, we can't take 'em. You gotta get outta here!" Leo pushed his brother towards the edge of the building. "Let's go, buddy!"

But little Raph wasn't having any of it, "Leo, we can't back down! That would be cowardly and _none_ of us are cowards! Have faith in us!" Leo looked nervously at the advancing ninjas. There was still a good fifty left.

"Raph… I have perfect faith in you, and right now, I'm putting my faith in you to make the right decision!" Leo locked eyes with Raph for a second- and the turtles glared at each other- one stern and protective, the other proud and battle-ready. Raph suddenly thrust his sai over Leo's shoulder and when he pulled it back and sheathed it, it was covered in blood and a foot ninja was missing an eye. He gave Leo a 'see, they're not so tough' grin and was about to turn and join the fray when he was unceremoniously winded by a flying green mutant.

"COWABUNGA!" came Mikey's delighted cry as he swung past his brothers on the end of Donny's emergency rope, grasping tight hold to Raph and leaving the rooftop with a whoop. He let go of the rope and the two turtles hurtles towards ground. Donny saw himself swing towards Leo on the rooftop and follow Mikey's actions…and slowly his consciousness returned to him, and the scene faded into the white expanse.

"Well, that was just _weird_." He commented lightly to himself as his queasy stomach returned to him. "Leo's memory of our first battle. Now why would that happen?" In all honesty, it didn't matter whether Donny spoke his words aloud or not; he wouldn't have heard them any different in this white span of thought.

_Unless... perhaps my device…? Well then… on the bright side- it works… on the not-so-bright-side… I gotta get myself outta here! Now where'd I put the control for that thi…_

It took Donny a few seconds to realise he existed purely as thought- there was nothing physical left of him.

_Holy crap! I don't even exist… I'll want my body back, you know!_

Donny looked up and shouted at an imaginary authority, as if someone had stolen his body from him. Unintentionally, he fuelled his own curiosity. His indignant emotions sent a single flash of colour flying to Donny's right. His eyes followed its speedy path as almost brushed him and flew on. The turtle somersaulted and watched it from an upside-down point of view.

His desire to leave the white expanse suddenly lifted, as suddenly and naturally as it had come. His scientific side was more than intrigued, and without being consciously aware of it, his emotions began to change his surroundings. Unseen colours blossomed and formed strange shapes with too many dimensions to count; too many thoughts flowed round the expanse to comprehend, and the sinking feeling in Donny's stomach lessened until he felt as though he was soaring, rather than falling. He grinned, or, his emotions grinned for him, projecting everything a thousand times over around the turtle.

Donny's surroundings faded subtly, as if the thought-world couldn't cope with Donny's powerful emotions, and became dimly lit. The turtle realised he was entering a second memory when he found himself lounging on the couch, comic books piled around him and the TV volume a low murmur. He felt fuzzy, in the strange moments between sleep and awareness. He lifted his head up, and found an orange bandana in his hand. Mikey then… this was Mikey's memory…

Satisfied, he settled back to watch, taking the very back of his brother's mind and encompassing Michelangelo's loves, hates, emotions, physical feeling and thought. It became obvious that Mikey was ill within minutes. His stomach churned and the unfortunate turtle leaned over the edge of the couch and dragged a bucket towards him not a moment too soon. He promptly emptied the contents of his stomach into the metal container.

"Aww, maan!" Raph's voice came from behind him. His arm reached over Mikey and lifted the bucket up. "I'll clean that out for ya… seeing as everyone else is takin' a kip." Mikey grinned and sat up while Raph emptied his bucked and filled a smaller one with fresh water. He stood up and was about to wander off to the kitchen to help his brother when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Nah you don't!" Raph gently pushed the turtle back down again. "Here." He placed the new bucket in front of Mikey and handed him a toothbrush that had already been pasted.

Mikey took the brush gratefully and began to scrub away the foul taste in his mouth.

"Wha'sha 'thime?" He slurred through the foam.

"'Bout two inna mornin'." Raph replied, leap-frogging the couch and landing with a grin next to Mikey. "Now _that_, my friend is pro." He grinned as Mikey spat the foamy toothpaste into the bucket. Raph absent-mindedly handed him a cup of water which the younger turtle gargled and spat into the bucket.

"So what's keepin' you up?" Mikey looked at Raph with a grin, knowing perfectly well Raph was hanging around to make sure he was alright. Raph looked at him darkly.

"You talk in your sleep." He said flatly, deliberately turning the tables on Mikey.

"Yeah, well you snore." Mike replied playfully.

"How would you know? You're too busy playing Fifa! Not that you play enough of it while you're awake…" Raph grinned and leapt off the couch and out of Mikey's range. The younger turtle was about to grab his brother when his eyes widened and he grabbed the bucket again. Raph rolled his eyes and fished out the large bucket from under the sink and filled a small amount of water in the bottom. Not that he had to; it just made it easier to clean later. He switched buckets with Mikey and re-pasted his brother's toothbrush.

It was going to be a long night.

----

Hurrah! Now I gotta write Chapter 3. Hmm. I'm sure there was something I was going to say here…

Oh well, if it's important, I'll write it in the A/N of next chapter.

Read and Review!


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